The senator said he has “a hard time understanding” why Trump’s legal issues don’t “seem to be moving the needle” with more voters.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called out the majority of Iowa Republican caucus voters who baselessly believe that President Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election legitimately.
“I think a lot of people in this country are out of touch with reality and will accept anything Donald Trump tells them,” Romney, who announced in September that he is not seeking reelection, told CNN journalist Manu Raju on Wednesday.
About 65% of Iowa caucusgoers said they believe former President Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him, according to entrance poll data.
That’s not true! I’ve met some people that voted for Trump in 2016 that have come to regret it.
I can’t say the same thing about people that still plan to vote for him in 2024, though.
I might get downvoted to hell for this, but hopefully you hear me out before you do. I knew nothing of politics most of my life prior to 2016. It was never on my radar and most of the time when I did vote it was essentially just how my family members voted. I did not think for myself back then. That was my mistake. And so I voted for Trump the first time knowing nothing outside of the “email scandal”. But my own ignorance and laziness to be informed is no excuse.
I have since been on a vigilant crusade of self reflection and self correction to better understand myself. This mistake on my part which has motivated me to spend the rest of my life to be more informed, not just politically, but also with history, economics, social and culture issues as well, the whole nine yards so to speak. Within Trumps first 100 days in office, I knew I made an absolutely huge, huge mistake and I vowed never again. In the years that have followed, I’ve amassed a wealth of knowledge I previously never had from learning more of the Constitution of the US/Bill of Rights, as well as my states own Constitution, and I’ve read numerous books on US history from how the government functions, to Civil War to Civil Rights to better inform myself of how we got here.
I’ve been in horror watching everything unfold since 2016. Not being politically aware/involved before this was my mistake. I’ve read books from my local library on How Democracies Die to How Fascism Works to better grasp what is going on because having perspective matters. Looking back, I can see the type of media my family consumed affected my decision at the voting booth, but it was my mistake that I never dug deeper or tried to objectively learn the truth of things. I used to be the type that naively thought “both parties are the same” (they absolutely are not), but it was my mistake to remain ignorant for many years.
Shortly after the 2016 election, I was second guessing myself, thought I was taking crazy pills, and everything Trump was saying and doing I was in major conflict with. Prior to 2016, I never read/heard political news, but after 2016, everything I read was political news. Ignorance may have been bliss, but it’s no excuse not being informed. That was my mistake. I did a few of those ‘which political party are you’ type of online quizzes. Turned out my views on social issues, drug issues, prison reform, environmental issues, education, military, etc were aligned 80% of the time with the Democratic Party. Really blew my mind, since I was more or less raised to vote Red. Diving into History and learning about the Republican tactics from the Southern Strategy to Obstructing anything Democrats do, to blowing up the deficit while in office, to only cutting taxes for the wealthy, to saying they support the troops but do nothing for them, to overturning Roe v Wade, among 100 other things they’ve done really woke me up that I’ve been misled for so long.
I hope to never make a mistake like that again. My family is all still very pro-Trump, I’m the black sheep in the family, but I don’t care what they think knowing what they are still willing to support. Since 2016, I’ve had numerous debates with my family, almost always civil discussions, but they always move the goalposts…they never move an inch from their Republican entrenched mindset since they watch/listen to Fox News and right wing AM radio every single day. It was my mistake I ever listened to them. I hope to never make a mistake like that again.
tl;dr I naively voted for Trump in 2016 and within the first 100 days instantly regretted it and vowed never again to make a mistake as monumental as that by being better informed. Took an online test, turned out I was always Democrat leaning with my views on issues.
I appreciate the self-reflection and steps you’ve taken to better understand yourself, your surroundings, and the world. No downvote from me; you’re exactly the type of person that we need more of.
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It’s easy to armchair quarterback this. There were a lot of unknowns, and a lot of projection going into 2016. There was also the fact that Clinton, for better or worse, was deeply unpopular. There was also a lot more faith in the system to keep him from doing much harm. It seems obvious now, but it wasn’t clear back then exactly what we were walking into.
As an example, there were voices saying from the beginning that he would refuse to leave office. But the way the system is designed, the person doesn’t leave office, the office leaves the person. Once the term ends (automatically, I might add), they become just another trespasser in the white house. He would have to launch a fucking coup to stay in power. Well, guess what happened…
Above all else, he showed exactly how fragile the entire system is and continues to be. In the 3 years since, we have done almost nothing to fix that. This is why it’s so alarming to people that he could win again.
The fact that there are some who came to learn from this mistake gives me some hope for this country. I just hope there are enough of them.
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